


haunted by the ghost of you

by Another_Freak1258



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Accusations, Comfortably Bisexual Dean Winchester, Confrontations, Dead Benny Lafitte, Dean is hung up on Benny, Episode: s12e06 Celebrating the Life of Asa Fox, Gossip, Heavy Angst, Hunters know Dean loved sucking Benny’s grade-a vampire cock LOL, I ignored the Mary plot sorry, Jody is just confused, M/M, Sam isn’t very nice, hunter drama, its just the monster part he’s ashamed of
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-18
Updated: 2019-12-18
Packaged: 2021-02-26 07:26:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,294
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21845893
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Another_Freak1258/pseuds/Another_Freak1258
Summary: Garth unwittingly spread around some sensitive information about Dean concerning his relationship with a certain vampire. The hunting community at large finds these rumors about Dean disgusting and it all comes to a head at Asa Fox’s wake when someone confronts Dean.
Relationships: Benny Lafitte/Dean Winchester
Comments: 7
Kudos: 106





	haunted by the ghost of you

**Author's Note:**

> I’ve always been into the prospect of Dean’s friends/other characters finding out about Benny and so forth & I finally managed to take a crack at it.
> 
> In this AU everything played out the same between Benny and Dean as in canon except they were sMaShInG (with feelings <3). Also I didn’t intentionally make Sam such a dick it just sorta happened

Dean Winchester has made some very public mistakes. 

Typically, mistakes that warrant a crowd of people, pitchforks and all, to chase after him. Sometimes Sam. Usually both of them. It’s safe to say the name Winchester hasn’t been dropped in a positive way for decades. But it isn’t like they do what they do for fame or anything superficial like that—it’s just become bothersome to run into other hunters. Most of them are angry with Sam for starting the Apocalypse, some are angry with Dean for causing his share of chaos... Gossip spreads quickly among hunters, and Dean’s never came across a rumor that wasn’t somewhat true, because the stuff that gets out is big. Apocalypse big. Mark of Cain big. Nothing overly... Personal.

Funerals aren’t really the place for gossip. But then again, they aren’t usually this jovial. Celebratory. Dean thinks briefly that it’s much nicer this way, but that’s probably only because he wasn’t affiliated with Asa in any meaningful way. 

Across the board, Sam’s gotten a much more positive response out of the other guests. Dean thinks this is very weird. Not that he’s gunning for Sam’s persecution, but... Sam’s the Apocalypse guy, Lucifer’s vessel. He’s usually the one hunters point fingers at. Dean Winchester is just the older, needlessly violent brother, willing to do anything for Sam.  _That’s_ his reputation. 

Dean manages to pull Sam away from a conversation early into the night. In fact, it’s still light out. “Man... are you getting a weird vibe from this?”

Sam offers a recoil and a few confused twitches. “What? No. Dude, everybody here is so nice! I mean, some are a little nosey, but...” He shrugs. Sam doesn’t feel the need to explain any further because Dean should know what he’s getting at, hunters aren’t usually thrilled to run into the Winchesters. But a lot of people Sam’s talked to have not only been kind, but excited to meet  the Sam Winchester. 

“I’m not getting that impression.” Dean frowns, looking over at some of the other guests. 

“This is a wake, Dean.” _I don’t think anything’s fishy._

The night goes on fairly smoothly. Dean hovers close to either Jody or Sam, not comfortable enough to socialize on his own. He’s trying to prevent the other shoe from dropping by being as unimposing as possible.

It comes to a head when a hunter named Elvis finally brings up what Dean’s expected to hear all time. “Y’know,” the man awkwardly explains, “I have this friend in the States that knows your pal Garth. And, uh,  _she_ said that  _Garth_ said that you were possessed by the Devil? Is - Is that true?” 

Maybe a lot of other hunters were waiting for this moment, too, because Dean notices how quiet it gets all of a sudden in the packed room. 

Sam laughs awkwardly, and the pair of siblings on the couch seem to be ready to jump to Sam’s defense, but Dean beats them to it.

“Wow,” Dean drawls, speaking for the first time in awhile. His tone is genuinely annoyed. “Leave it to Garth to run his mouth.” Seriously, why would he go around saying stuff like that? Garth may be an open book, but the Winchesters sure aren’t. 

“Would you expect anything less?” Sam offers with the intent of diffusing the tension a bit. “Classic Garth,” he adds, playing off the fact a lot of people seem to be familiar with him.

Someone in the room casually says, “I haven’t heard from him in awhile.” Thankfully, that aspect of Garth isn’t drawn out. 

“You can count on Garth,” says a man with dark hair from across the room. When Dean looks over he realizes the man is looking directly at him. “Garth really saved my ass during this vamp case. Showed up outta nowhere in that shitty car of his... Had some really strange things to say afterwards, though.” 

At this point, a lot of people’s attention have turned towards this man. And not in the polite way people do to simply acknowledge someone’s words, like they’re waiting for something. Dean raises an eyebrow as he takes a drink of his beer. The man clearly has more to say.

“I think we can all agree most of the things that come out of Garth’s mouth are strange,” Dean murmurs, glancing at Sam who has finally noticed the weird tension Dean’s been receiving.

The man looks at his friends for a moment before continuing. “Said he caught up with you guys recently. That there was trouble in paradise because of, um. A friend of yours?”

Dean’s eyes widen angrily as he understands what the hunter is alluding to. He has to stop himself from squeezing the glass bottle in his hand too hard. “Whatever the hell you’re trying to start, I’d stop it right now if I were you.” He takes a step towards the dark-haired man.

Jody, who had been loitering nearby, reaches out to rest her hand on Dean’s forearm. “Dean,” she says softly. Not scoldingly, but in a we-are-at-a-wake-and-you-are-my-guest sort of way.

Sam purses his lips uncomfortably as guilt burns in the pit of his stomach. He catches the dark-haired hunter’s gaze and shakes his head minutely. 

“I’m just saying what everyone’s thinking, pal. But I’m guessing it’s true. I can’t believe you have the nerve to walk among us like you’re still a hunter after making friends with a _monster_.”

Dean’s forearm tenses underneath Jody’s hand. She pulls a face, completely lost on the situation. “Tony, what the hell are you talking about?” He must be getting Dean confused with someone else. He’s _Dean Winchester_. There’s no room for empathy when it comes to him.

Dean offers no response other than a heated glare. He’s practically shaking with the need to clock this fucker, but the weight of Jody’s touch reminds him of the circumstances. But he can’t walk away just yet, because if he moves then there’s no way he’ll be able to hold back. 

Sam finally speaks up, grimacing. “Can you lay off, man? This isn’t about any of us, we’re here for Asa.”

“I knew Asa!” The man sets down his own alcohol and huffs frustratingly. The people around him that he’s been looking at for support don’t speak up, but it’s clear that yes, he really was saying what everybody was thinking. “Asa wouldn’t want a damn _blood whore_ at his fucking wake!”

Dean shoots forward and grabs the man by the collar of his flannel. “What the fuck did you just say?”

“Dean!” Jody exclaims, looking at Asa’s mother apologetically. She seems to be enjoying the drama, though. It’s probably a good distraction from the tragedy of her son’s death. Sam looks resigned, as if he knows this couldn’t possibly end with Dean walking away.

Tony manages to push Dean away from him, angrier. “Garth told me everything! That you were protecting—“ He shakes his head, sneering with disgust. “ _Sleeping_ with a  vampire !”

Without a second thought, Dean takes a swing at Tony. He doesn’t miss, the impact of his fist on the hunter’s jaw creating a deafening  _crack!_

Being that the room is teeming with hunters, that’s the only hit Dean can get in before he’s held back by multiple men. “You have absolutely no idea—“

“Dean!” Sam yells, and the older Winchester realizes his brother is the one holding the right side of his body. “It’s not worth it!” Dean’s too angry to feel bad for potentially embarrassing Jody and Sam. He’s still actively pulling forward to get to Tony.

A female hunter who’s taking a look at Tony’s injury sighs in Jody’s direction. “Why’d you bring him here?” She notices Jody’s shocked expression. “You haven’t heard?”

Dean stops struggling as his attention snaps between the disgusted looks shared among the hunters. They know. They all fucking know. What a nightmare. 

Suddenly overcome with an acute feeling of shame, Dean breaks free and heads for the exit. Sam follows behind him.

With an open mouth, Jody watches the Boys leave swiftly. It’s only after the front door slams that she’s able to look over at the woman tending to Tony. “What?” she croaks. Jody would never regard Dean openly with disgust, but... The sheriff understands why the others aren’t holding back. 

“I can’t believe it’s true,” a different male hunter remarks, equally shocked. “I mean,  Dean Winchester . Who would’ve guessed, right?”

Jody runs a hand through her hair before going after Sam and Dean. Her hand is on the doorknob when she hears the Impala’s engine starting up. The open door exposes the sight of Dean quite recklessly peeling out of the driveway as Sam watches from the yard with a hopeless posture. 

“Sam!” Jody shouts, almost tripping on her way over to him and she can’t tear her eyes away from Dean disappearing into the distance. “Where is—“

“I have absolutely no idea,” Sam groans. He rubs his face. “But I know he’s definitely not coming back here.”

Jody folds her arms across her chest, frowning deeply.

Sam looks at her apologetically. “I am so sorry about this.”

Yeah, it’s going to be pretty difficult to walk in and continue with the storytelling and catching up, but. “Well. This must be... Really serious.” 

Scoffing, the younger Winchester pulls a bitter expression. “It really isn’t. It really  shouldn’t be.” Jody’s surprised by Sam’s reaction to her statement. Obviously, it was really serious to Dean. Sam doesn’t get to decide what Dean could care about and what he should dismiss. 

“What the hell was Tony talking about?” Jody implores, a bit calmer now that it’s just her and Sam talking. 

As clear as it was that Dean did not appreciate Benny being mentioned to other people, good intentions or not, Sam provides an extensive amount of context. Jody actually feels badly for asking by the time Sam’s finished, like she knows something that was never meant for her. 

“Can you believe that?” Sam scoffs, visibly annoyed now that Dean’s gone. “Barely more than a year together and he still won’t let it go.” Jody distantly thinks it isn’t a matter of letting it go. There’s much more to the story than what Sam’s privy to. She doesn’t have to agree with Dean’s judgement to recognize that. The Boys aren’t the greatest at communicating.

“A vampire.” Jody shivers. Vampires have never been the classiest bunch of monsters in Jody’s experience, despite how they’ve been portrayed in centuries-old literature. They’re usually trashy, loud, and generally sadistic. And ever since Alex, Jody’s opinions of vampires has only grown more negative. Alex with sometimes mention a sweet, positive thing she remembers from her old family, but other times will recall a experience with disgust. Jody can’t imagine a vampire being anything than horrible. 

Sam takes a deep breath. “Still, I didn’t expect Garth to... What happened on that case... Well, stuff like that is said in confidence. And Dean wasn’t even trying to share.”

Jody rubs Sam’s back comfortingly. “It’s probably for the best that he took off. I’m sorry that leaves you stuck here because I need to stay.”

Sam turns quickly to properly face Jody. “No, of course! I completely understand. And I’m fine. I just wish this could’ve waited.” 

Jody gives the tall hunter a motherly smile. “Let’s go back inside and try to clean up the mess he made, huh?” 

Months after, Sam and Dean visit Jody on a weeknight upon her request. Neither Winchester would turn down another home cooked meal from her, so they hightail it down to Sioux Falls. In classic Dean Winchester fashion, he completely ignores the painful elephant in the room between him and Jody. 

There’s time before dinner will be ready, so Claire grabs Dean’s attention by spouting off details of a possible case in a nearby town. She leads him to her bedroom to show off her bulletin board filled with clues and lore. Sam, Jody, and Alex remain in the kitchen to catch up and prepare the food.

“How’s Dean holding up?” Jody asks pointedly, wanting desperately to know what occurred as a result of the confrontation at Asa’s wake but not wanting to let Alex in on the situation. 

Sam sighs, glancing at Alex. She’s a smart girl and immediately picks up on the secretive vibe. “Is this about what happened at your friend’s funeral?”

Sam huffs at Jody. “You told her?”

“No,” Jody replies. She looks down at the pot of boiled potatoes she‘s carefully mashing. “Not specifically.”

It hasn’t came up for months, but Alex’s curiosity is renewed from the prospect of learning what got Jody so shaken up. “She wouldn’t spill.” Alex glances at the doorframe, determining that Dean is out of earshot. “Please tell me you will.” 

The tall hunter frowns at her. “It doesn’t matter. What happened is in the past.”

Jody rolls her eyes. “Am I just supposed to forget what I heard? What you told me?” She tries to not sound unreasonable. “The Dean I know... It just doesn’t make any sense.”

Alex is on the figurative edge of her seat, ignoring the vegetables she’s supposed to be steaming. “Jody! Could you be more ambiguous? Just tell me!” 

After glancing at the doorframe himself, Sam takes pity on Alex and explains minimally what happened at Asa’s wake and the story behind Dean’s accusations. Alex is silent when Sam finishes. 

Jody sets aside what can now be considered mashed potatoes. She puts a hand on her hip. “He didn’t go talk with Garth about it, right?”

“Not that I know of,” Sam answers. “We just... Went back to normal. When I saw him a few days later, it was like nothing happened. Which isn’t unusual for us.” 

Everybody flinches when Dean suddenly stomps into the kitchen with Claire following behind. They’re both eating suckers. “Wow, it smells great in here!” Dean exclaims, although it sounds more like ‘aow, ih ‘ells geat n ‘ere’ due to the candy in his mouth. 

Sam hates it when Dean talks with his mouth full. “Ew.”

Dean pulls the sucker out of his mouth with a loud smack, moseying along the counter space to examine the spread of food they’ve been getting ready. “You never disappoint, Jody. Mm!” 

Suddenly, Alex leaves the kitchen with her arms wrapped around her stomach. Everyone looks after her, but only Claire follows. As much as the blond tries to hide it, a flash on concern passes over her face before she manages to leave the room. Dean attributes Alex’s behavior to normal young people angst and continues looking at the food while Sam internally panics. He hopes he didn’t upset Alex.

Less than an hour later, the table is set and everyone takes their place. Dean is so hungry he doesn’t notice the looks directed at him from the young girls. Sam is all too aware of the tension, and Jody seems nervous too. Claire wouldn’t say something, would she? I mean, what is there to say?

As Claire carefully cuts her roast, she asks in reference to the case she’s building, “So, Dean, from what I showed you, what do you think it could be?” 

Dean takes a moment to inhale a few ounces of mashed potatoes before entertaining her question. “Eh, from what you showed me, it’s probably just a nest of vampires messing around.” 

The word makes everyone, save for Dean, tense up. Dean’s preoccupied with Jody’s cooking. Everything just tastes amazing! It reminds him of the food Benn—

“Probably. Who knows, right?” Claire responses, tone passive aggressive. “It could just be one.”

Hearing Claire hypothesize is very amusing to Dean, who is a seasoned hunter. The young blond reminds Dean of himself when he was younger. “Hm, what makes you say that?” He glances at Alex, worried she’s annoyed with all this talk of hunting at the dinner table, only to realize she’s slouched in on herself and pushing the food on her plate around despondently. 

“What with how many people have got away. Maybe it’s one vampire that’s on it’s own. Maybe it’s trying not to draw any attention with casualties.” Claire sets down her knife and fork, staring at Dean. Dean furrows his brows, chewing slowly. “Or maybe it’s trying to avoid casualties for the sake of it’s diet or whatever.” 

Dean swallows. He looks around the table and goes stiff. “What? What are you talking about?” 

“ _Claire_!” Jody hisses, knowing the situation is about to escalate. She’s shocked that Alex immediately ran to Claire to tell her about Dean. 

Claire is clearly done beating around the bush. “I know about  Benny , Dean. So why don’t you stop acting like—“

Dean shoots up like an arrow, whipping around to face his brother. “Sam, what the  _fuck_ is wrong with you!” Dean’s clearly about to bolt, but the younger Winchester has had enough.

Standing between Dean and the path that ultimately leads to the front door, Sam huffs. “Dean, can’t you just let it go for once?”

“You _told_ them!” Dean shouts angrily, appetite lost as he steps away from the table. “What is wrong with you!”

Sam shakes his head. “You need to stop acting like this is a big deal. We made our peace about this already! You can’t act like this every time someone mentions Benny.”

It’s like the name causes Dean physically pain. He grits his teeth and looks away. “You have no right to tell me that.” He points at Claire. “And you should not assume you know anything just cuz Sam blabbed about shit he understands  nothing about.”

Claire is very new to hunting and only seeing things in black and white. She finds this whole issue completely ridiculous because of it. “What is there to understand? Vampires are monsters! They’re evil!” 

Dean produces a frustrated noise, a handful of emotions swirling around in his head. “You don’t get it. This is nobody’s business but my own.”

“Dean, don’t you understand where this confusion is coming from?” Jody chimes in, standing up from her seat with animated gestures. “I don’t get—you taught me how to hunt! You never said, ‘hey, sometimes monsters are good and we let them live’! If you feel so passionately about this, why did that never come up? We’re just worried about you!” 

“This gig doesn’t come with a handbook, Jody! You cross that bridge when you get to it.” Dean curls his fingers nervously around the sleeves of his jacket, shaking his head. “Is this going to follow me everywhere?” He addresses Sam. “Just cuz you couldn’t keep your trap shut for once?”

Sam squints. “Me? Garth—“

“No!” Dean yells with a flushed face. “You’re the one who kept bringing up purgatory and h - him around Garth! You couldn’t just leave it alone for once and now I have to be reminded of what I allowed to slip right through my fucking fingers! Does it feel that damn good to rub it in my face all the time? No, fuck you, Sam!” He leaves without another word, clearly on the verge of tears. Dean’s not one to tear up during an argument. 

Not dissimilar to how Dean ditched Sam at Asa’s wake, the older Winchester takes the Impala back home and holes up in his bedroom. 

After grabbing enough alcohol to put him to sleep for the night, Dean pads over to his dresser. He opens the top drawer, carefully rummaging through his flannel shirts to find what he’s looking for. 

Dean crashes on his bed and allows the tears to flow as he clutches Benny’s blue hat to his chest. Later, when the hunter finally falls asleep, he dreams of blue eyes and a warm Southern drawl purring, “ _Sugar_...”

**Author's Note:**

> title based off Lord Huron’s ‘The Night We Met’... it’s such a sad Denny song to me ;(
> 
> I hope you enjoyed this depressing story. Please comment <3


End file.
